Friday, February 3, 2012

Tattoo Removal sessions 2 & 3. Explicit language used in this post. And we liked it.


Tattoo removal sessions 2 & 3. They fucking hurt like a bitch. The end.

Okay, I'll try to flesh that out a little more but that's the gist of it. For about thirty seconds once a month, it feels like someone is carving their initials in my back with a very sharp and pointy knife. 
I've gotta admit, this would've looked better than the spider.

Session #2 ended up taking place the day before we left to run the Disney half-marathon so that was an awkward predicament. You're not supposed to get the tattoo wet for 48 hours, meaning no sweating and if necessary, only quick showering. So here I was, about to sweat into an open wound for three plus hours, and the best part was that I couldn't get the band-aid to stay stuck so I ended up smearing it with antibiotic cream and a layer of sunscreen and hoping for the best. Don't worry, it was fine. Maybe just a teeny bit gross for everyone running behind me, but hey, not my problem!
No, that is not a piece of raw meat strapped to my back. That is the result of my splendid life choice when I was 18. And people wonder why we can't buy alcohol until we're 21?

Here are comparison pictures of what my tattoo originally looked like compared to after two sessions of laser removal:
Pre-laser. Luckily I was wearing my half-shirt that day.
After 2 sessions- web is almost completely gone and the spider has some skin starting to show through.

I am in a cool mountain stream.....
Tonight was session #3 and it made session #2 feel like a massage with a happy ending. It hurt so much that for the first time possibly ever, I actually used a piece of advice I learned in yoga outside of yoga: focus on your breath. It was the only way I kept myself from screaming 'break!!!!' every other second to stop the laser.

Come on, come on, get out of here.... no? Fine. Whatevs.



I tried to force myself to have an out-of-body experience but when that didn't work, I just focused on my breath, not on the excruciating pain taking place around back. I imagine this is why they make women giving birth focus on their breathing, but I'm pretty sure this hurt way worse than labor.





Here's a picture taken about 4 hours after session #3:
It's funny to me that the spider part doesn't look all bloody and gross considering that's the part that hurt like a motherfucker. Hey, I warned you about the language!

So why keep going back for the S&M torture? Easy. The results. After only 2 sessions, my tattoo looked so much better; you could hardly even see the web at all. We're pretty sure that tonight's session will be the last for the web and it'll be completely gone. It does make me wonder what people think my remaining spider is supposed to be. And as bad as it was, I am so excited to see what this thing will look (or not look) like after the six sessions are up. So the verdict so far: totally worth it. But learn some of those breathing technique things before you go in if you know what's good for you.


I am at the top of a mountain.... silenty cursing that flower anklet that now looks like a handcuff....



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't they give you some of that numbing cream to use before you go? The hair removal places give you that and it helps!

Kelsie said...

Hi! I stumbled across your blog, and I was wondering if you had any more pictures of your tattoo removal progress. I just had my 2nd session yesterday :)

Thanks,
Kelsie